Tuesday, August 31, 2010

Bath time - Eye healing

The boy likes his bath! We're working on the whole not drinking the water thing.


Monday, August 30, 2010

Big Brother

Jackson is going to be a big brother! 2.0 aka "Annyong's" due date is 3/11/11.
Today we had our third doctor's appointment. Since Noelle always gets so sick at the beginning of pregnancy she goes every 2 weeks until things settle down and she stops losing weight. Although we don't like Noelle being sick, we do like the extra sneak peeks we get. This is our third ultrasound and the best yet. We couldn't stop laughing because Annyong was sprawling out in there and relaxing. The baby kept putting his/her feet up and putting the hands behind the head. Although you can't see the head well in the first ultrasound, the hands are behind it. Annyong also turned and looked at us a couple of times. Those baby feet are our favorite part of the ultrasounds! See post about the first appointment here and the post about the day we found out here.

Sunday, August 29, 2010

Haircut etc.

We finally broke down and cut Jackson's hair. The little blond curls were supercute when they curled just right. But, when they didn't his hair was just craziness.


The main reason I broke down and agreed to it was because he getting a little too mullet-ie. We are opposed to having a Mullet MacGregor.


At first he was a little freaked by the noies of the clippers. We showed him that Daddy liked it on his head and after that Jackson was fine with it.


Post-hair cut silly smile.

Post-hair cut, "You should see the other guy" look. His eye is looking much better than we expected it to today. He hit the corner of the coffee table yesterday, but the bruising is pretty light and didn't spread much.
This weekend Jackson also went to his friend Thomas's first birthday party. He had a lot of fun and looks forward to spending more time with his future bestfriend. One funny moment at the party took place in the kitchen. He was finally warming up to people when he got a little out of his comfort zone. He whipped around to hide his face in Daddy's legs. A moment later he looked up and realized he had grabbed the wrong legs! He quickly corrected that problem. It was also a house that had the stove dials on the front, much like his play kitchen. Keeping him away from the stove was quite a challenge.

Finally, we all want to wish a Happy Birthday to Aunt Lori! We hope she had a great day!

Tuesday, August 24, 2010

Sick Sucks

My students last year used to joke about how sick Jackson was, which sounds awful, but it was came from them always asking how he was when he was battling swine flu or some stomach bug or one of those horribly persistent ear infections. Some days, I would randomly tell them that he was fine, but they still thought he was a virus magnet.

Since his ear tubes were put in, he's been a healthy boy. This summer, it was rare for him to not be smiling and running all the time. Then we had to go and bring him back to day care.

He didn't even make it a week. I woke up one night to him whimpering and went in to check on him. He had fallen back asleep, but I ended up staying next to the crib and sleeping on the floor in case something was wrong. Something was wrong. He woke up around 1:30 throwing up. He was tossing and turning and whimpering all night after that, so we were one tired family when Grandma showed up to watch him Friday. He napped for most of Friday while we worked and Grandma took good care of him, though he was not interested in eating and his diarrhea was... well, you don't want to know.

Saturday, he woke up just like our summer Jackson. We played and decided to do a little shopping for some new clothes for school and to have lunch with the Tiemeyers. The results of this outing may have us permanently barred from Mission Burrito, because Jackson was not done being sick. We brought him home and took it easy for the rest of the day.

Sunday, I woke up regretting my Whataburger dinner. Then I realized I had contracted Virus X. The day before the new school year had me barely able to get off the floor. Jackson was also not exactly regular, so we enlisted Grandma again to help with Monday. She couldn't - she had the virus too.

After a day full of napping and pedialyte, I was well enough for day one of school. Grandma and Granddad MacGregor ventured over to the sick zone and spent the day playing with a nice healthy Jackson. I spent the day close to restrooms introducing myself to 115 high schoolers. Noelle spent the day dealing with the thousand headaches facing magnet coordinators on the first day of school. We get home, we're all feeling well, we're ready to be back to normal.

Today, Noelle got it. She's been miserable all day and had to miss Day Two of school, which is probably the second worst day for a magnet coordinator. Jackson's day care teacher mentioned how her son had been sick and she thought it was from the tainted eggs. I blame her son from this point on and will hold it against them forever.

So we're having a rough week and think you should all stay away from us, unless you're one of my students or Jackson's teacher.

Wednesday, August 18, 2010

Jackson's Day #2 at Daycare and 15 mo Check-up

Day 2 did not go as well as Day 1. Not even close. First, Jackson would not let go of my neck this morning. He knew what was going on and was not going to get far enough away from me that I could sneak out. When we left he cried.

When we went to pick him up, two different teachers were in his room. Apparently, the one teacher who Jackson knows won't be in that room anymore. The other teacher who Jackson met yesterday had to leave early. We hope it wasn't from being sick. But the people that were in there didn't know much of anything. They didn't write down how much Jackson slept (though later we discovered it must not have been much) and they said he didn't want his lunch. Um....? Jackson LIKES to eat. Jackson doesn't pass up food and he lets you KNOW when he's hungry. And his lunch included cheese, which Jackson has a predisposition to enjoy on both sides of his genes. They showed us his plate, with cheese, peas, and turkey remaining. But he didn't act hungry when we picked him up and he didn't act that hungry when we tried to give him a snack later on (after being told he didn't eat his lunch). We think they accidentally gave him the school lunch, realized they weren't supposed to, and tried to give him his lunch. Since he already had lunch, he didn't eat it. They also said he had snacks, but his snacks were untouched in his cubbie. So either, he didn't eat ALL day or they fed him school food. We opted out of the school lunch (included in his tuition) because it's so awful. Chicken nuggets, pizza, hot dogs, quesadillas, turkey nuggets, grilled cheese, etc. Oh, and 3 of the 5 days, the fruit is fruit cocktail, which is of course in syrup. Although I know every kid eats that stuff, I don't think he needs that everyday. If that's what all daycares serve, no wonder that's all some kids will eat! Would it kill them to throw something in that's wheat or not fried?

So Jackson had his 15 month check-up a little late (2 weeks late). The wait was the worst we've ever had. Later the doctor told us we should avoid the place the week before school starts. We didn't even think about it. Every kid needs some shot or physical before school starts and everyone waits until the last minute. The wait combined with a boy who most likely didn't nap made for one nightmare patient. He flipped out like I have never seen when the doctor came in the room. He did manage to see his ear tubes are still in place and that was pretty much it. Jackson has never acted that way. I'm talking screaming at the top of his lungs and throwing himself about while trying to push the doctor away. It was the craziest thing. I hope this phase passes quickly. After almost an hour and a half of waiting, the doctor got to see him for about two minutes then got out of Dodge. Jackson was so upset he was incapable of telling him what the doctor said about the monkeys.

Jackson got his anemia test and the results were great. He also had to get 3 shots, which he didn't like, but he stopped crying about 10 seconds after the shots and was fine. We talked to the doctor for about 10 mins on our way out and Jackson talked and smiled away. So I don't know what it was that freaked him out so much before.

Jackson's head and height are both more than 97% of other 15 month old humans, and his weight was I believe between 50-70%. The paper is in the car but I am on the couch. I'll check and repost if the weight is wrong. He's 34 inches tall and weighed 26.15 pounds.

The best moment of the day had to be right as it started. Rob actually got to sleep in bed all night and wake up to his alarm, which hasn't happened a lot lately with Jackson's bizarre 4 am freak-outs. Today, Jackson woke up after 6 and did not fuss - he just stood up and started talking about puppies. That's the best thing to hear through a baby monitor.

Pray tomorrow goes better at daycare! If they don't get more organized we're going to switch schools.

Tuesday, August 17, 2010

Jackson's First Day Back at School

We waited until the last possible minute to take Jackson back to school. We had Grandma Stockman watch him the days that Rob had to work last week so we could delay the inevitable. The morning was not an easy one. Noelle "forgot" her phone so we had to turn around to get it. She had an in-service across town and needed her phone for the GPS and just because it makes everyone feel safer. I said, 'Noelle "forgot" her phone' because after turning around, driving home, and searching the house, we discovered it was in the car after all.

We finally got to his school and went to drop him off. It took a while because his classmates were in the breakfast room and we had to talk about paperwork with the office. Finally it was time to go. We took the wussy way out and left when he wasn't paying attention. After some discussion we decided that we wouldn't do that again because we want him to understand when we won't just disappear on him and that we'll come back later to get him.

All day we were worried and stressed. Especially since he had a little freak out at his Grandparents house. Rob and Noelle were out of the room and he realized we were gone. He was UPSET. So, we could only imagine the freak out he'd have when left with "strangers."

We made it through the day and went to pick him up around 4pm. When we arrived, his class was playing outside. When we said hi, he barely acknowledged us and went back to playing. We talked to the teachers to find out how the day went. They said he was a little upset when he realized we were gone, but was pretty easy to distract. They said he was very social, mobile, and strong. Hmmmm. That could mean a lot of different things... At home he normally naps at 10 and 2. In his class, they have 1 nap at 11:30 and it lasts until 2:30. It's also on a mat on the floor. I wasn't sure how that would go. They said he did well waiting until 11:30 and slept a little over an hour. They said after that he was pretty good and lying on the floor while the others slept.

When we told Jackson it was time to say bye-bye and go home he threw a fit. First, I thought fits were supposed to start at 2??! He's not even 1 and a half yet. Second, as always, the first day was much harder on Mommy and Daddy than Jackson.

Since we got home this afternoon, Jackson has taken various pieces of cloth (t-shirt, blanket, etc) and carried it around the house, placed it on the ground, and laid his head on it. We guess he likes napping on the floor at daycare. Or praying to Mecca.

Although we are glad he had so much fun today, we are going to miss all of the Jackson time we had this summer. We love you goober!

Tomorrow he has his 15 month appointment. We hope he'll tell Dr. Gonzalez "what the doctor said," hand gestures and all.

Sunday, August 8, 2010

Ear Socks

Jackson loves socks and he loves ears. Put the two together and it's the funniest thing in the world to him.


This last picture is the face we got when we told him to smile.

Saturday, August 7, 2010

What the doctor said.



Jackson loves reading about mischievous monkeys. We worry that he'll be disappointed the next time he visits the doctor if there's no prescription that involves keeping monkeys from jumping on the bed.

If you're callin' Colin, you're callin' us.

Our nephew Colin came to visit this week on Wednesday night, and although his visit was short, we had a great time playing Mario Wii, jumping on the trampoline, and talking Godzilla with him. He was nice enough to leave plenty of mementos behind to remember him, including his cell phone.



Which item do you think he misses the most? Which item do you think he misses the least?

Monday, August 2, 2010

15 Months Old

Today our little monkey turns 15 mo old. He is still up to his usual tricks along with some new ones as well.

Jackson currently loves walking sideways and backwards.

Jackson can tell you that a cow says "moo" and that a sheep says "baaa" as well as point to his head, ears, mouth, teeth, feet, toes, and nose. He will then point to the item on Mommy and Daddy as well. His favorite body part to show off though is his belly hands down.

Jackson's comprehension level is definitely increased and he will follow simple comands (well, if he wants to he will). He has learned routines and knows where to go when you say it's time to change his diaper, put on his pajamas, go to his playroom, etc.

He has a few new words that aren't quite right, but very cute. He calls books "dooks" and shoes "zoos". He still calls cars and trucks "doors" and is still obsessed with every door he sees.

He has started climbing like crazy. He wants to climb on anything and everything from the sofa to the safety gate to the coffee table and more. He greatly enjoys falling off the playroom sofa and giving his parents heart attacks.

One of his favorite books is My Little People School Bus: A Lift the Flap PlayBook. Lately he has only wanted to stare at the cover which is a scene of a bus driver waving good-bye to students being met by their Mommies and Daddies. He has a Little People Bus that he loves to play with. While he's playing with it, he constantly waves and says, "bye-bye" like the bus driver on the book cover. A lot of times, the Little People sheep is driving.

He is dangerously close to turning door handles. With his obsession with doors, once he figures them out, we'll be in big trouble.

He likes wearing a cape, but who doesn't?

Having him go back to daycare this month will be very difficult for all of us. This summer, we took very few trips and really just spent the summer watching our boy grow. We're very fortunate to watch something that happens too quickly happen minute by minute. Still, another month has ended, another begun, and our baby boy is now fifteen months old.

Sunday, August 1, 2010

24

This is going to sound like a lame excuse, but I hate driving 15+ minutes each way to go to the gym. I also hate the current 24 Hour Fitness location in Katy. I have thought about getting a different membership, but I have such an awesome deal, I just can't. I bought a membership a long time ago that was a 3 year deal. I paid for 1 year upfront and got 2 years free. On top of that, I got a special deal where I pay $100 a YEAR for my membership to all gyms, all levels, and it will never go up. You just can't beat that.

So, I just haven't been going to the gym.

There is a lot of open land near our neighborhood. I have been hoping, and thinking, and praying that one of the plots will be a 24 Hour Fitness. I love the idea of being able to bike to the gym (or run). Everyime a new building is going up, Rob asks what I hope it will be. Everytime I say, 24 Hour Fitness.

He just came home from the store and said, "Guess what's going up next to the Best Buy?" I said, "Is it something I will like?" He shrugged his shoulders and then got a give away smile. 24 Hour Fitness? You got it!!!

Less excuses, yes. Maybe we will actually use my membership! I can walk or run there. It's exactly 1 mile away from our house!